Raisin-stemmer.



W. C. ANDERSON.

RAISIN STEMMERL APPLICATION IILBD r3349, 1012.

1,048,269. Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

3 flHEBTB-BEBET 1.

coLuMulA PLANOGRA PII CD WASHINONN, D. C,

\NiII'IESSE'E:

W. G. ANDERSON.

BAISIN STEMMER.

APPLICATION FILED 213.20, 1912.

I 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANuuRAPN COJWASHINOTON, u. c. 7

W. G. ANDERSON.

RAISIN STEMMER.

APPLICATION FILED Palms, 1912 1,048,269. Patented D80. 24, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA I'LANOGIIAPH cu, WAsIIINnTDN, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM C. ANDERSON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANDERSON-BARNGEOVER MFG. CO., 013 SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OFCALIFORNIA.

RAISIN-STEMMER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM C. ANDER- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRaisin-Stemmers, of which the'following 1s a specification. 7

My invention relates to the class of ra1s1nstemmers, and particularly toimprovements in that stemmer which was patented by me June 28, 1910, No.962609.

The objects of my present improvements are, first, to prevent theraisins from being crushed by and gumming up the adjacent end surfacesof the cylinder and concave, and, second, to provide for a moreefficient seggregation of the raisins from the stems and all foreignmatter, to the end that a larger percentage of the fruit may be saved,and all well cleaned and accurately graded. The nature of theseimprovements will be fully understood from the following description,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalview, enlarged, of the portion of the machine succeeding the stemdetaching devices. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, enlarged andbroken, of the stemming cylinder and concave. Fig. 4 is an enlargeddetail of one corner of the cylinder and concave. Fig. 5 is a side view,enlarged, of the discharge end of the stem box and the shaking shoeflexibly hung from the box. Fig. 6 is a top view of the receiving tableand grating at the head of the main shoe. Fig. 7 is a bottom view of oneof the adjustable tail-gates.

1 is the general frame of the machine.

2 is a traveling feed-conveyor upon which the raisins from thesweat-boxes are dumped.

3 are side guides of the conveyor.

4 is the stemming cylinder of the usual wire-cloth or screen coveredpattern, and 5 is the concave, of the same screen or wire cloth type. 4

6 is the stemming space between the cylinder and concave.

7 indicates a set of fingers for breaking up and evenly distributing thematerial fed by the conveyer 2 to the stemming space 6.

Heretofore the ends of the cylinder 4: ran in close proximity to theends of the concave Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 29, 1912.

Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

Serial No. 680,679.

5. Between these surfaces some raisins would find their way, resultingin their being crushed and gumming up the surfaces.

My first improvement consists in a construction by which this result isavoided. As will be seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the end flanges 8 of theconcave 5 are provided with an inturned guard-lip 9, the free edge ofwhich approaches as closely as need be a smooth facing 10 on the ends 11of the cylinder 4. The guard-lip 9 thus prevents raisins from workingout between the cylinder ends and the concave flange, and said lip has awidth sufficient to cause the ends of the cylinder to be separated fromthe end flanges of the concave by a space wide enough to form a chamber12 having capacity sufficient to avoid the crushing of any raisins whichmay get between them. The stemming space 6 delivers into an elevatorcasing 13 inwhich operates a bucket elevator 14, by which the material,stems and all, is carried up and discharged upon a receiving table 15 inthe head end of a shaking shoe 16 having a screen bottom 17 Thereceiving table 15 is best made of a fine screen, as shown in Fig. 6, sothat a separation of sand and very fine matter may take place at thispoint.

The shoe 16 is supported by springs 18, the inclination of which is suchas to advance the material by reason of the shaking action, a shakingmovement being given the shoe by means of a crank shaft 19 andconnecting rods 20. At the delivery end of the receiving table 15 is agrating 21 made up of parallel spaced rods or strips, as seen in Fig. 6,which grating delivers the material to the screen bottom 17. Below andjust back of this grating 21 is the mouth of the Windtrunk 22 of a fan23. Enveloping the grating 21 is the mouth or entrance of the stembox 24which extends along the top of the machine. The floor of the mouth ofthe stem box curves downward, as shown at 25, in front of and below thegrating, and said stem-box has its mouth in direct communi cation withthe mouth of the wind-trunk 22, the grating extending part way acrosssaid communication. In this communication, in front of the grating, isan adjustable tailgate 26, supported upon the end 27 of the wind-boxfloor, and adjustable thereon by means of slots and bolts, indicated inFig.

2 at 28. The arrangement is such that the gate 26 may be extended higherinto or withdrawn more from the communicating path of the wind-trunk andstem-box, with the effect of regulating the separation of the lighterfrom the heavier particles at this point; that is to say, by setting thegate 26 farther up, more raisins will be intercepted and will drop backout of the air-blast than when said gate is set lower down. Now, as thematerial, delivered to the receiving table 15, advances under theshaking movement of the shoe, and gets upon and travels over the grating21, it is met by a strong uprising blast of air from the fan 23, whichhas the effect of blowing the stems upward and onward into the stem-box24, while the raisins pass on to drop back upon the screen bot tom 17 ofthe shaking shoe 16. The screen bottom of the shaking shoe is the usualgrader bottom, enabling the raisins to pass through into separateunderlying chutes 29 for delivery into boxes 30.

In the stem box 24 is an endless traveling scraper 31, the cross flightsor bars 32 of which travel along the bottom of the stembox. This scraperextends approximately the length of the box, and travels in thedirection of the arrows, dipping down at its head end into the curvedfloor 25 of the entrance of the stem box, and thence continuing outwardover the floor of the box.

In this direction of functional travel itdiffers from the scraper in myprevious patent, heretofore mentioned, which operated in the reversedirection, as it was therein contemplated to have the scraper serve thepurpose of returning to the receiving table such raisins as might haveaccompanied the stems into the box and thereafter have dropped from theair-blast, said blast alone being depended upon to carry the stems andlighter particles through the box. In the present case, the scraper 31operating in the direction indicated by the arrows, provides a morepositive means than the air blast alone affords for carrying off thestems and associated particles through the box and thereby preventingany tendency to clog up or to permit any of the excluded particles torejoin the main body of raisins. In this operation it follows, ofcourse, that all raisins which have been carried by the air-blast overthe tailgate 26 and into the stem-box must accompany said stems throughthe stem box, being impelled thereto by the scraper 31; and it followsalso that some provision must be made to separate these raisins at somesubsequent point, in order that they may be saved, and returned, ifnecessary, for initial cleaning. For this purpose there is a drop 33 atthe end of the floor of the stembox. Under this drop is a shoe 34suspended from the box by flexible hangers 35, as seen in Fig. 5, andhaving a shaking movement through a connection 36 with the main shakingshoe 16. This shoe 34 has an end grating 37, seen in Fig. 2, composed ofparallel spaced rods, similar to the grating shown in Fig. 6. Below thisgrating is the wind-trunk 38 of a fan 39. In front of and below thegrating and exposed in the mouth of the wind-trunk is an adjustabletail-gate 40, which is movable upon a cross board 41 by means of slotsand bolts at 42, as seen in Fig. 7 The raisins which, as heretoforementioned, are carried onward in the stembox by the scraper, fall fromthe drop 33 upon the shoe 34. On this they are shaken forward to thegrating 37 and there, being subjected to the wind-blast, such stems andother foreign matter as may be with them are blown over the tailgate 40and out of the machine, while the raisins drop down into a suitablereceptacle below. By adjusting the tail-gate 40 the character of theblown over material may be regulated to the end that only the mostworthless raisins are ultimately lost.

In Fig. 5, at 43, is indicated one of the tighteners of the scraper 31.

In Fig. 1, 44, is a hopper having within it, as indicated in dottedlines at 45, a feeder. This hopper and feeder are to receive and to feedto the conveyer 2 the raisins recovered from the end of the machine, sothat they may be once more subjected to the operations heretoforedescribed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is r 1. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination ofa stemming cylinder and a stemming concave with end flanges, saidcylinder being so disposed relatively to the concave that its ends areseparated from the concave flanges by a space forming a chamber for theraisins, and said concave having its end flanges provided withguard-lips inwardly extending and covering said chamber.

2. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination of a stemming cylinder and astemming concave, said concave having end flanges with in-turnedguard-lips at their upper edges, the free edges of said guardlipsapproaching the ends of the cylinder.

3. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination of stem-detaching devices; meansfor producing an air-blast; means for presenting the raisins and stemsdelivered from the stemdetaching devices to the action of the airblast;a stem-box to receive the air-blast and the stemscarried forward by it;an adjustable gate in and controlling the entrance of the stem-box andadapted by its position to regulate, according to difference inspecificgravity, the material blown over it into the stem-box; a travelingscraper in the stembox arranged to carry the stems forward through saidbox to their discharge, and

means underlying the entrance of said stembox to receive the raisinswhich fall through the air-blast.

4. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination of stem-detaching devices; meansfor producing an air-blast; means for presenting the raisins and stemsdelivered from the stem-detaching devices to the action of theair-blast; a stem-box having its entrance arranged in the line of theair-blast beyond the region of presentation of the raisins and stemsthereto, whereby said box receives the air-blast and the stems carriedforward by it; a traveling scraper in the stem-box arranged to carry thestems forward through said box to their discharge; and means below thesphere of action of the air-blast to receive the raisins which fallthrough said blast.

5. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination of stem-detaching devices; meansfor producing an air-blast; means for presenting the raisins and stemsdelivered from the stem-detaching devices; to the air-blast; a stem-boxhaving its entrance arranged in the line of the air blast beyond theregion of presentation of the raisins and stems thereto, whereby saidbox receives the airblast with its load of stems and lighter rai sins;means below the sphere of action of the air-blast to receive the heavierraisins which fall through said blast; a traveling scraper in thestem-box arranged to carry the stems and lighter raisins forward throughthe box; means at the discharge end of the box for producing a secondairblast; and means for presenting the contents of said box to saidsecond air-blast to separate the stems from the lighter raisins.

6. In a raisin-stemmer, the combination of stem-detaching devices, meansfor presenting the raisins and stems delivered from the stem-detachingdevices to the action of a blast of air, a stem-box to receive theairblast with its lead of stems and lighter raisins, means for advancingthe heavier raisins out of the sphere of the air-blast, a travelingscraper in the stem-box arranged to positively carry the stems andlighter raisins forward through the box, and means at the end of the boxfor presentin said lighter raisins to a blast of air to further cleanthem, comprising a shaking shoe upon which said raisins are dropped,said shoe having an end grating, and a wind-trunk to direct the airblast against the raisins while upon and as they fall from the grating.

7. In a raisin-sten1mer, the combination of stem-detaching devices,means for presenting the raisins and stems delivered from thestem-detaching devices to the action of a blast of air, a stem-box toreceive the airblast with its load of stems and lighter raisins, meansfor advancing the heavier raisins out of the sphere of the air-blast, atraveling scraper in the stem-box arranged to positively carry the stemsand lighter raisins forward through the box, and means 'at the end ofthe box for presenting said lighter raisins to a blast of air to furtherclean them, comprising a shaking shoe upon which said raisins aredropped, said shoe having an end grating, a wind-trunk to direct theairblast against the raisins while upon and as they fall from thegrating, and an adjustable gate in the sphere of the air-blast toregulate the material blown over.

8. In a 'aisin-stemmer, the combination of stem-detaching devices; meansfor producing an air-blast; means for presenting the raisins and stemsdelivered from the stemdetaching devices to the action of the airblast;a stem-box to receive the air-blast with its load of stems and lighterraisins; an adjustable gate in and controlling the entrance of thestem-box to regulate the material blown over it into said stem-box;means underlying the entrance of said stem-box to receive the heavierraisins which fall through the air-blast; a traveling scraper in thestem-box arranged to positively carry the stems and lighter raisinsforward through the box; and means at the end of the box for presentingsaid lighter raisins to a blast of air to further clean them, comprisinga shaking shoe upon which said raisins are dropped, said shoe having anend grating, a wind-trunk to direct the air-blast against the raisinswhile upon and as they fall from the grating, and an adjustable gate inthe sphere of the air-blast to regulate the material blown over.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM C. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

WM. F. Boo'ri-I, D. B. RICHARDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

